International Economic Forum opens in St. Petersburg, in midst of crisis and sanctions

by Nina Achmatova

Renamed the "Russian Davos", the event this year takes place in the shadow of Western sanctions over Ukrainian crisis, and the boycott of some large American companies. Moscow is self-assured, bolstered by mega agreement on gas supplies to China.

Moscow (AsiaNews)
- Against the backdrop of Western sanctions on Moscow over the ongoing
Ukrainian crisis, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) opened
May 22. For over 18 years the event has brought together international business
and the heads of the institutions of Federation
to the extent it has been nicknamed the "Russian Davos".

With the theme
" Sustaining Confidence
in a World Undergoing Transformation", the event aims to show Russia's main
foreign investors that it is still a necessary and reliable partner, despite
the escalation of political-diplomatic tension.

The
organizers wanted to emphasize that this year more than ever. They promise "lively" discussions
and a "quality" program despite the desertion of some top managers of
Western companies behind alleged pressure from the United States. According
to the newspaper Kommersant, the total number of foreign managers to
participate in the forum was down 40% compared to last year.

As anticipated
by the Izvestia newspaper, those U.S. companies boycotting the forum,
include Visa , Boeing, PepsiCo, ConocoPhillips and Cisco Systems. Officially
citing different reasons for their absence from St. Petersburg, others who will
not be present incliude the president of Siemens Joe Kaeser , chief of Deutsche
Bank Jürgen Fitschen and the CEO of the Norwegian oil company Statoil Helge
Lund and Johannes Teyssen of E.ON. France's
Total SA , however, will be present with the CEO Christophe de Margerie.

Instead those
who have confirmed their participation include Donald James Umpleby III ,
president of Caterpillar Inc.; Franck
Riboud , Chairman and CEO of Danone and Kim Jung Rae of Hyundai Heavy
Industries Co. Ltd. Together with them Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips
Electronics NV; Robert
Dudley , CEO of British Petroleum and Mike Nolte, vice-president of Mercedes
-Benz Russia.

The
Ukrainian crisis has generated even greater pessimism among foreign investors,
as revealed by a recent report from the Association of European companies (AEB):
According to 40% of respondents - between March and April - the development of
foreign investment in Russia over the next 2 -3
years is destined to fall (in 2013 the figure was 12%).

Despite
this and the general slowdown of the Russian economy, the atmosphere is still
that of "business as usual" for Moscow, who will exploit the SPIEF to
make a show of strength with the usual parade of ministers, oligarchs and top
managers of 450 of the largest Russian companies (Gazprom , Rosneft, Sberbank ,
Rusal , Lukoil ) .

At
an institutional level, President Vladimir Putin - due to address the forum
today - will be the highest-ranking politician present. The Head of State has just returned from
Shanghai with a mega deal in his pocket to the tune of 400 billion US dollars. Under the deal Russia's Gazprom will
guarantee gas supplies for the next 30 years to China's CNPC, an agreement that
the Russian newspapers have called "a nightmare for Europe".